French U.N. draft calls for ‘all necessary measures’ to fight ISIS

The National Assembly is lit with the blue, white and red colors of the French flag in Paris.

France urged the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to authorize countries to “take all necessary measures” to fight ISIS after the jihadists claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.

A draft resolution presented to the 15-member council called on U.N. member states to “redouble and coordinate their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts committed specifically by ISIL” and groups linked to Al-Qaeda.

ISIL is another acronym to ISIS.

“The exceptional and unprecedented threat posed by this group to the entire international community requires a strong, united and unambiguous response from the Security Council,” French Ambassador Francois Delattre said.

“This is the goal of our draft resolution, which calls on all member states to take all necessary measures to fight Daesh (ISIS).”

Delattre said he was seeking rapid approval of the draft resolution that was “put in blue” — a U.N. term designating that a final version is ready for a vote at the Security Council.

France’s bid for U.N. backing came after Russia submitted a revised text of a separate draft resolution that calls for fighting the ISIS group with Syria’s consent.

That draft has been rejected by the United States, Britain and France, which are refusing to cooperate with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, whom they accuse of fomenting extremism by resorting to brutality.

The French draft resolution does not provide any legal basis for military action and does not invoke chapter seven of the U.N. charter that authorizes the use of force.

French diplomats maintain though that it will provide important international political support to the anti-ISIS campaign that has been ramped up since the attacks in Paris on Friday that left 129 dead.

The French draft text describes ISIS as a “global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security” and said sanctions would soon be imposed against ISIS leaders and supporters.

The text “unequivocally condemns in the strongest terms the horrifying terrorist attacks” by ISIS in Paris and Beirut, and also mentions violence in Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt this year.

French President Francois Hollande is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week, two days after talks in Washington with President Barack Obama aimed at stepping up the campaign against the extremists.

Separately, Italian police have arrested two Syrians trying to travel to Malta on false passports who ISIS had related images on their phones, local media reported Thursday.

The two men, aged 19 and 30, were apprehended at Bergamo airport near Milan late Wednesday after presenting Austrian and Norwegian passports but answering only to Arabic, the Eco di Bergamo daily said.

Italian security services have been on high alert following coordinated gun and suicide attacks in Paris last Friday claimed by ISIS, and warnings from the FBI over possible jihadist attacks at Italy’s historical sites.